Former Republican internee launches new book in Derry

There was a full house and a “fantastic reception” in the Museum of Free Derry on International Women’s Day for the Derry launch of Roseleen Walsh’s new book ‘My Internment: A Woman’s Story’.

Speaking to The Derry News, Roseleen, who has written more than 40 plays, said the challenge to have them staged led to her forming her own company - Commedagh Productions.

“I now have a great set of actors around me and Bill Tierney, who does lighting and sound, and I finance it, costumes and scenery and whatever else is needed, ourselves,” said a determined Roseleen.

“We have had good success with the plays, most of which would be political. We usually have something of meaning in the play. I wrote ‘The Vigil’ about [Hunger Striker] Kieran Doherty and ‘Death of an IRA man’ about Sean McDermott from Andersonstown who was shot dead.

“About five years ago, an actress called Roseanne Doran suggested I should write about my time in prison. I was interned in 1973 / 1974 for 13 months and two weeks. I didn’t think it would much of interest but I did it and it was of great interest. We did it five consecutive years in The Felon’s Club, in Belfast. 

“From that my daughter, Aine, encouraged me to write the book ‘My Internment’ which I did.

“The thing about the play and the book is when I was imprisoned, I kept all my correspondence  - my cards, my letters - so that provided me with a diary. It was over 50 years ago now and to remember small details would be almost impossible, so the letters gave me the memory I needed to write accurately,” said Roseleen.

IN PICTURES: "My Internment" book launch by former Republican prisioner Roseleen Walsh

The International Women's Day celebration was held in the Museum of Free Derry

Roseleen said people who have read ‘My Internment’ told her repeatedly how it “brought them back”.

“People said to me, ‘I found parts of it very sad’ whereas I didn’t because, while we were travelling daily through The Troubles, each day we got more accustomed to terrible things,” Roseleen recounted.

“Pre-Troubles we were just ordinary people trying to make our way through life and then suddenly The Troubles seemed to be dropped on us. It was hard at first all this violence, which in the beginning was house raids. You didn’t matter at all to the British system.” Roseleen said. 

“It was confirmation we didn’t matter. We sort of knew it but couldn’t articulate it being a young person but we soon caught on that we really don’t matter to the British. 

“You hear all the talk about colonies, this really was a colony and the thing about it was, we didn’t know. We as children didn’t know. We didn’t know until we went out to work.”

At 15, Roseleen began working in Woolworths. On her first day, one of her workmates asked what school she had gone to. When she answered, ‘St Teresa’s’ Roseleen was subsequently subjected to such sectarian abuse and isolation she left after a few weeks.

“This was a cultural shock for me but, again, I couldn’t actually articulate what had happened. I knew then if I had told my mammy what was happening on a daily basis, she would have gone down and jumped the counter,” said Roseleen. 

“However, when The Troubles exploded we were all in it together to do whatever we felt was right at the time. That is mainly what ‘My Internment’ is about.

“The end of the book, I am looking back on the journey I’ve made and, hopefully, peace will reign.”

Roseleen said she found it strange there were no women from Derry interned. 

All the women but one were from Belfast. The only woman not from Belfast was a young married woman with two children called Brenda Casson, from Armagh.

“I tried to think, and especially Derry where you had so many Republicans, so many young people fighting the Brits, you have to ask, ‘Why were none from Derry interned?’ There must be a reason. It must be a strategic reason from the Brit’s point of view.

IN PICTURES: "My Internment" book launch by former Republican prisioner Roseleen Walsh

“Maybe they thought the price of interning Derry women would have been too great? There had to be a reason because the Derry girls and the Belfast girls were fighting the same battles, fighting the same war,” said Roseleen.

Describing her internment, Rosaleen said to have her freedom “snapped” from her was terrible. 

She added: “We were all young girls. When I was in, the conditions in Armagh were not particularly bad. The girls weren’t treated badly before internment. However, after internment, when political status was removed the girls were treated really badly.

“When I was in, the governor was Mr Cunningham and he was a good man. After I got out and he was held hostage in the prison because of the burning of Long Kesh, he did not press charges against anyone. He was a decent man, so the authorities soon got rid of him and brought in people who would do their dirty deeds for them, when the girls had strip searching and cells wrecked. They had a terrible time.

“When I was in, I remember one day counting 133 women, the majority of whom were young. The prison regime, from our point of view, ran very smoothly. Eileen Hickey, a Belfast girl, was OC and she was blessed with a lot of commonsense and she was able to handle every situation. She was able to organise and discipline us, which was to our advantage,” said Roseleen.

‘My Internment: A Woman’s Story’ has been well received on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Roseleen was at pains to point out the book was written from her point of view. 

“As I said, 50 years ago is a long time to remember. I focused the book on myself because if you write about other people, my memories wouldn’t be the same as theirs,” she explained.

“The thing about my internment is, I met really fascinating people, all sorts and all ages and I think that was the good thing about it. I still see some of the girls. I met some of the Derry girls, Sheila Breslin, Lynn O’Connell, Rose Sheerin at the launch and it was great. 

“A lot of the girls have died since I got out and that is sad but it was a very interesting experience. The one thing I couldn’t believe was we were locked up after 8pm at night. 

“At home you were used to neighbours coming in. There were no telephones as such, so everything had to be word of mouth. Neighbours would come in and say what they knew and what they saw and my mammy and daddy would be sitting. Somebody would make the tea and toast. This was every night for many years, at the beginning of The Troubles.

“Our lives all changed dramatically. One day everything was as it was the day before and the next day, I remember my sister and I, we worked in the same place, we got up, got dressed, went to go out to go to work and our front field - Commedagh Hill - was littered with Brits. There must have been thousands. Everything just changed after that. It was a new way of life, dinner time was never the same again.”